Fabulous post received

It seems like ages since I last logged on to blogger.  My days are so long at the moment, that when I get in and have cooked tea all I want to do is curl up with a book or a film!  This is our busiest time of year and from now until the end of April is going to seem like groundhog day!!  Thankfully I have started up swimming again and that is really helping with the stress/tiredness levels!  Anyway, tonight I will try and catch up with all my blog reading

In the meantime I have received my mouthy stitches parcel

This parcel of loveliness came from Ella at shimmy blister.  She got me down to a T.  The blues are easily my favourite colour and the charcoal is just perfect

 I may have mentioned several times on the flickr swap that I am not a fan of natural coloured linen - although some of the designs did make me change my mind, but on the whole I just don't get it.  Ella obviously heard me loud and clear!!

the sides and the bottom

She obviously stalked me very well!

The pouches are being received thick and fast - its great to see what everyone else gets as well: something else that I need to catch up on tonight! 

Bucket bag for London

Well, the good news is that I can't believe how quickly this week is going and that its Thursday already tomorrow!

Over the weekend I finally got round to making a bag, and I used the  reversible bucket bag from Sewmamasew

It was a really easy pattern and I only made one short cut: I boxed the bottom, rather than making a seperate piece and I love how it has turned out.

I am ashamed to say that this was the first time I have ever made my own bias binding - and it was nowhere near as awful as I thought it would be!

My sister in law made me a fabric brooch a while back - it could have been made especially for this bag

I think this just might be the bag that I take to London in June!!



Beyond fiddly

I have been wanting to try making something with a clasp for a while, but wasn't sure if I could do it
When I was at Lakeside on Thursday, Primark were selling of little clasp purses for a £1.  I bought 3.
I ripped out the primark material so I was left with a lovely heart clasp

and made one into a glasses case

I have never done anything so fiddly!  There was a lot of glue all over me and a lot of swearing.  This is not a job to do with children around

Now, I don't know if it was this fiddly as I didn't buy a clasp from a 'reputable' supplier, maybe they are easier?

As you can see, the right side fitted in to the clasp at the hinges better than the other side, but its not disaterous.

All in all I am pleased with the result and will definitely tackle the other two clasps that I bought (they are all slightly different)

And may I suggest a large glass of wine afterwards!!

On a roll - another finish!

So here is my stained glass window quilt (not to be confused with Sarahs stained QAL!

made with Amy Butler charm packs that the girls gave me for mothers day last year

I hand quilted around each block, each with a different colour thread

The colours have come out great on the back too

I love these vibrant Amy Butler prints and am glad that I finished this before this years Mothers Day - means I can hint for more fabric!!

The binding is a lime green which brings out all the colours, although its tricky to see here in this photo.

I am really pleased with how this has turned out - now I need to find somewhere to put it!!  Am off to the finish a-long flickr group to add it over there

A bit of a blur

I have had the whole of this week off and it has been lovely.

On Tuesday we went in to London to see Alison and Daniel.  We went out for lunch and Dan was the star of the show

Nice try, but I don't think so!!

I was still suffering with my back so thought the red wine would help the painkillers!!We had a lovely walk through Highgate park after lunch



you can just about see the city of london through the trees

We went to Lakeside yesterday and Jenny and I have been swimming a few times too, and I have met up with a friend for lunch..... and I have nearly completed the studying for my next unit, so will be gearing up for another exam soon. I really needed this week off  and am pleased to say that my back is feeling much better now too.

I have also finished off a quilt, which I will show you tomorrow, and I have done my first block for the stained qal

All of these fabrics were from my stash, so am feeling good about not buying any new fabric - and I love how it looks.  These are my blocks all laid out

All laid out, but all need sashing - wanted to make sure that they all fitted together!

Can't believe the last 5 days off work have gone so quickly! Movie night for Beccy and I tonight, whilst Jen is out with her friends.



Blueberry crumb cake anyone

sounds delicious doesn't it, and it has made me hungry, but sorry folks - I am talking material! 

 These are very definitely my colours - and match the colour scheme of my bedroom.

I bought a charm pack a while back and have come up with this

Not at all tricky to do!

The cream/beige squares (that you can't see very well!!) were material that I already had so I have managed to use some stash as well

 It was very quick and easy to do and will look gorgeous in my bedroom!

Jen and I went swimming today: we both need to get fit and I figured swimming is a great way to try and help my back too, get those muscles working.  Right now it doesn't feel like it, but I will persevere. And it was nice to have someone to swim with.
Tomorrow we are off in to London to visit Alison and Daniel - he had his first birthday a few weeks ago: where did that time go

Back Stain

This morning I woke up with a bad back, something I do suffer from.  I took some of my amazing special painkillers and got on with cutting out my fabric for the stained QAL that the amazingly talented Sarah is running.

This is the quilt we are making.  I have used 10 FQ;s.  There is some serious thinking to be done with placements on this on.

This is my block1 which uses all of the fabrics

I have cut in to my 'beach' fabrics and I am thrilled with the result.

It has taken me about 5 hours to cut everything out  (yes really) but I knew that I needed to do it all in one go otherwise I might not get round to finishing it and I might have lost the design plot.  This is my fault, as I was too lazy to follow Sarahs excellent instuctions and just started cutting.  Morale of the story is to always read before you cut!!

My back now, after 5 hours of standing, appears to have completely siezed up, which is my own fault.  But I am really pleased with what I have done.

Can't wait for the sashing instructions ....!

And even chillier!

Last night when I was driving home (about 11.30pm) my car was telling me that it was -7.5 outside.  I think some places in Lincolnshire reported -12 and lower.  Although it was chilly this morning, it was nice to walk in to the village and feel the sun on my face.

Beccy has been making these

and appears to have picked up my bad habit of leaving the needle in the arm of the settee, so I made her one of these:

This was a lot easier to make than the cathedral windows cushion that I made - and much quicker!  She now has no excuse for leaving her needles lying around!

I also made myself a needle case  today from this great tutorial



I have been wanting to make one for a while

Its nice and big too - about 6.5 inches tall, with a pocket as well, to hold scissor, thread etc

tonight I will be staying in, watching the rugby and doing some hand quilting.  I see we are forecast for heavy snow here tomorrow morning, turning to sleet later (boo) - so may stay inside for the day!

Chilly enough for you?

I hope everyone is staying nice and warm at the moment.  It has been soooo chilly!!
I managed to get home before 4pm today, so was able to help Beccy with some of her sewing (for her GCSE) so we were sat around the kitchen table sewing together.

I made this:

ever so easy to make, although next time I would make the middle a little bit smaller.
I have next week of and fancy making a bag. Now that I know I can make a flower, I would like to make one to go on the bag

I have also ordered some fabric from Fabric Rehab, which was delivered within 48 hours

I don't know what I will eventually do with these, other than look at them for a while

Best of all, I have discovered that their shop is about 20 mins from me in Dedham: so that may also be on my to do list for next term

I have a night out tomorow night, so am hoping that this threat of snow won't put pay to that!

Time to start talking partner

I have spent the weekend fininshing off my Mouthy Stitches pouches.  In the end I made two. 

I am fairly certain that the blue is more her colour, but I will post both on the flickr website and hope that she comments and makes a preference.  I have seen one comment from her on the whole site and that was in a discussion, not on any photos



..... I have just deleted everything that I wanted to write - a big rant about silent partners, but its just me getting mad.  I know I am not the only one with a silent partner and at the end of the day if she doesn;t comment then she is missing out, not the other way round.

I love both of these and would be happy to keep either.  If my partner doesn't speak up then she will be receiving the blue, as I think it is more her palatte

  

The rugby 6 nations began this weekend: 5 glorious weekend of rugby lie ahead for me!  And I will leave you with this:

Another favourite of mine: lots of lovely snow.  Hope everyone is staying warm this weekend

Winner!

Thank you to everyone who joined in the giveaway, and to my eldest, Jenny, as  my adjudicator and person who tried to show me how to get the results off the web page and on to this blog - which we did in the end, but not very well:


  True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 14 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Number 14 which is Annabella:

Happy blogaversary virtual triplet (along with Susan). You know, I can`t really remember! I think I just fancied keeping a record of what I was doing creatively! It`s always a happy thing to pop over her Catherine

Bizarrely the first person to leave a comment was Sheila - she left me my first ever comment on my blog too!

Will send you an email Annabella and get the bits in the post for the weekend